English teacher Shelley Lee directed her very first show earlier this month, making a strong debut in the theater department.

Taking on a new group of dedicated students, Lee directed the fall production of “Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” which opened for three nights.

Describing her position as an English teacher and getting a sense of Perry Theatre, it was “a nice welcome back for me,” Lee explains, as she first started out as a theatre teacher and have directed several high school shows back east prior until her arrival at a new school. Where she broke to teaching English only after teaching theater for about six years.

“[Perry] had such a strong theatre department that I wanted to be a part of,” Lee said. When choosing which new school to teach at. There were some openings for a new teaching position in which Lee took making her spot in the English department.

But being transitioned into a new school and balancing between teaching English while also working with theatre students outside of school, Lee was able to be reunited with her passion of the performing arts.

It was “kind of my stress relief to go into the theatre after a day of teaching English,” Lee expresses. When she describes her relationships between her theatre colleagues as something where “I enjoy my colleagues, they’re both [on] extremely different ends of the theatre spectrum when you talk about artistic personalities,” Lee brightly adds. Equally expressing gratitude to the English department that supports her: “It is really collaborative where I’m not really working by myself,’’ Lee mentions.

“Theatre education is so imperative to life skills in general,” Lee includes. Explaining the practices of teamwork, cooperation, and independent thought when being involved with theatre. It is all important to see and apply those set of skills into the real world that can help people as a characterized individual.

Among the cast, senior Feyi Falore was pleased with her first-time director.“[Mrs. Lee is a] very dedicated director and tried her hardest to make sure we’re all prepared to act,” Falore said.

Continuing with the hard work that is put into the show, Lee is just “preparing us for the professional lifestyle of acting and I would say that she’s prepare us really well,” Falore comments.

The theater department will hopefully see more helping hands to run future productions with Lee’s new addition.

Murders at the mansion

Taking the stage of a scene in an upstate New York mansion, murders takes place keeping the audience intrigued as to guessing who done it. With secret passages that added a mysterious element to the show.

Hidden surprises on stage also added to the overall effect and composition of how the show is run. It is all about looking “for a technical challenge [as] this year’s technical challenge is revolving bookcases, sliding bookcases, [and] hidden passageways,” technical director Shawna Marquis said. This year’s fall production entertained the audience with new, set pieces.

Ultimately the show gave a surprise twist of two murderers instead of one that certainly got everyone in shock. The audience’s laughter roared with character Eddie McCuen with his comedic remarks and snaps, to shocking character developments, leaving the people with a satisfied laugh and intense plot twist at the end of the night. At the end of the show, the cast was near the exit certainly pleased with the fall production.